Church Music

See you in April.

Before I get back to AOV NG, I’ve done this lovely setting for this weeks Psalm, “Be Merciful, O Lord” by Steve Angrisano.  My backing tries to be as cool as Steve but I’ve not done the high notes he does in the third verse.  I found it in Spirit & Song No 66.

It can be purchased for download at spiritandsong.

Refrain

Be merciful, O Lord. Have mercy on us, for we have sinned.

We come before you; cleanse us from within.

Have mercy on us Lord.

Verse 1

Have mercy on me in your goodness, Lord.

In your great compassion wipe out my offense.

Wash me from guilt, Lord, cleanse me from my sin.

Have mercy on me Lord.

Refrain

Verse 2

Create a clean heart for me, O God.

And a steadfast spirit, renew within me.

Cast me not out from your presence, O Lord.

Take not your Spirit from me.

Refrain

Verse 3

Give me the joy of your salvation, Lord.

And a willing spirit sustain within me.

Open my lips, let my mouth proclaim your praise.

Have mercy on me, Lord.

Refrain

Have mercy on us , Lord.

© Steve Angrisano 1999.

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Paul Mason has an SATB version of this as well, but I’ve done the simpler one.  He has an interesting repeat of Lamb of God.

Lamb of God, Lamb of God,

You take away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us, Lamb of God.

Lamb of God, Lamb of God,

You take away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us, Lamb of God.

Lamb of God, Lamb of God,

You take away the sins of the world,

Grant us, Grant us peace.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.

Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.

Paul Mason has settings for all three of the new Memorial Acclamations.  They have different tunes and tempos.

We proclaim your Death, O Lord,

And profess your Resurrection

Until you come again

When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup,

We proclaim your Death, O Lord,

Until you come again

Save us, Saviour of the world,

For by your Cross and Resurrection

You have set us free.

Again, I’ve tried to rock this contemporary mass up a bit.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Bless’d is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

Paul Mason only put 13 alternative verses for this acclamation.  I’ve chosen the first.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

If today you hear his voice harden not your heart.

If today you hear his voice harden not your heart.

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

Paul Mason lives up to his reputation as Australia’s most wonderful liturgy nerd with 103 alternative verses to his gospel acclamation.  I picked verse 21.  It is a joyous waltz time piece with a fair old range but probably doable.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Allelulia, Alleluia.

Speak , O Lord, your servant is list’ning;

Speak, O Lord, you have the words of everlasting life.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Allelulia, Alleluia.

I’m taking a break from AOV NG to work on Paul Mason’s Mass of Glory and Praise.  Of the six recommended mass settings from the Australian Bishops it stands out as being suitable for regular parishes with ordinary musicians and also being interesting.  You can (and should) buy it from here or from the Willow website.

I know this mass has been around for a few years and that it has been revised for the new texts, but since we haven’t ever used it before, I’m approaching it as a new mass.

It didn’t sound like rock music when it was being played and sung at the workshop I attended yesterday, but I figure I may well as well make rock backings for it, since it is meant to be the “contemporary” setting.

The refrain has a interesting choice with “of” getting two syllables, but perhaps that will be the jaunty hook that will cement this in our minds.  It has been interesting looking at how composers are coping with the less than brilliant lyrics they have been given.  These lines of the Gloria clunk badly and have required some ingenuity to be made singable.

Refrain

Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace to people of good will.

Verse 1

We praise you, we bless you,

We adore you, we glorify you,

We give you thanks for your great glory,

Lord God, heavenly King,

O God, almighty Father.

Refrain

Verse 2

Lord Jesus Christ, only begotten Son,

Lord God, Lamb of God,

Son of the Father,

You take away the sins of the world,

Have mercy on us;

You take away the sins of the world,

Receive our prayer;

You are seated at the right hand of the Father,

Have mercy on us.

Refrain

Verse 3

For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord,

You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,

With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father.

Refrain

Amen

I attended a workshop at St Paul’s Woodridge on 26^th of February at which some talented and patient musicians took us through the six settings recommended by the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.  My comments are based on very different criteria to those used by the Bishops.  I am concerned that we should have settings that can be played on a variety of very basic instruments, that is a guitar or piano, and having little reliance on organs and cantors, since we have neither.  I am also interested in settings that are able to be sung by everyone in our church, preferably in our language, Australian English.

1. Mass of Our Lady, Help of Christians

Composer: Richard Connolly

The presenters noted that this was a chant like setting that was lyrical and contemplative.  It is in a minor key and suitable for reflective situations.

The Kyrie is in Greek and the refrain of the Gloria in Latin, which is praised at Canticanova as it avoids the “less-than-elegant” English translation.  It relies on a cantor and much of the cantor’s part is quite high.  The music is suited to organ.

2. Mass Shalom

 This is a familiar mass by Colin Smith that has been rewritten by Paul Mason.

The presenters suggested that its familiarity might be useful at Christmas for occasional attenders who would remember the tune and not notice that the words had changed.

There is considerable discussion about whether revised masses are a good idea.  We have the words and music locked together in our minds that we have sung for years and it has been suggested that changes will take hundreds of repetitions to become natural.

In this case the very extensive changes both to the tune and words of the Gloria would make learning the new version a very difficult task.  It has always been a hard tune to play other than on organ in any case and we have used it less over the years locally.

3. Missa Magis

Composer: Fr Christopher Willcock sj

This was written for, but not used, at World Youth day 2008.

It was described as joyful and singable by the presenters and doesn’t go too high for the parishioners to be uncomfortable.

What we heard was often beautiful, especially the Kyrie.

There is considerable use of a cantor in the Gloria and the Agnes Dei.

The Gloria is probably unusable.  The presenter called it a roller coaster!  It is very long with 5 verses and repeated refrains.  It involves changes in tempo and key in the verses and is dramatic and memorable and I seriously can’t see it being used.

It is not available to download from OCP yet.

It is a remarkable work but I can’t see it being feasible without a major revision to the Gloria, which of course would breach copyright.

4.  Mass of St Francis

Composer: Paul Taylor

This mass was described as accessible and easy to learn, but not particularly memorable – they said it had no “hooks”.  I think it bored the musicians!

The parts of the mass were pleasant, if unexciting, but at least they are playable and singable and will have music for piano and guitar.

5. Mass of Christ the Redeemer

Composer: Bernard Kirkpatrick

This was suggested as suitable for ordinations and festive occasions.  It is a piece for a cathedral and is completely unsuitable for use in a suburban parish.

If you hear it is being used in a cathedral I suggest you go to hear it, it should be a blast.

6. Mass of Glory and Praise

Composer: Paul Mason

This was described as “bright and cheerful” and having a “contemporary feel”. I have heard it said that it has a “rock” feel and contains some syncopation.  This could only really be said in comparison to the other settings as it could hardly be described as even close to rock music.  It is however an interesting and memorable work and has potential for use in the suburbs.

The Gloria has some fiddly melody bits that will take some learning and the Holy Holy has some tricky timings, but I think this is a piece that will reward some effort.

Summary

The six pieces chosen had to cover circumstances from the Cathedral to the suburbs and obviously no one mass is going to be able to accommodate every setting.

There is a bias towards organ music, cantoring and extravagant Cathedral pieces that may reflect the fact that it was coming from the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference.  There is also the problem that professional church musicians rarely have the gift of understanding the abilities of weekend warriors who have to play their pieces in real masses.

Of the six only the Mass of St Francis and the Mass of Glory and Praise are really likely candidates for a church in the suburbs with basic resources.